Anyway for those who do not know what Plastic Free July was,
or that I had pleaded to do it.
Plastic Free July was an initiative of the Western Metropolitan
Regional Council
(WMRC) in Perth, Western Australia, developed by Earth Carers staff in 2011. This simple idea
aims to raise awareness of the amount of plastic in our lives.
Now I would say
I’m not one to preach, but then anyone reading this blog knows that would not
be true! Part of our lifestyle choice here is to live sustainably, not just in
the produce respect. And those who know me, understand this is something I have
been passionate about since a young child and even impacted on my educational direction.
Though I am the
first to admit in our modern lifestyles we quite often make compromises, intentional
or otherwise. And part of this lifestyle choice is challenging those choices or
habits.
So Plastic free
July, sounds simple- Attempt not to consume single use plastics for 31 days…
Well I figures a commitment to all plastic sounded daunting, so committed to
the ‘TOP 4 challenge’ not to consume straws, plastic bags, plastic bottles and
coffee cup lids.
So how did we
go?
So straws and
coffee cup lids were not such a big deal. In general I use a travel mug for
coffee and it as just a matter of being vigilant when socialising to ensure we
were not provide a straw with drinks. Plastic bags and plastic bottles was a
little more problematic!
Firstly I admit
I was prepared when it came to toiletries; toothpaste, shampoo, hand/body wash etc. I had previously
bought in bulk or have refillable dispensers. So whilst we didn’t purchase new bottles, we were still
consuming those we had prior. This really is cheating but in buying in bulk we
would reduce the amount of waste. There those who use alternatives to these, utilising
baking soda, essential oils and other kitchen basics.
I did attempt
to go ‘poo-free’, that is give up shampoo and use these alternatives to reduce
my reliance, but I admit I caved! But furthermore, in using these alternatives
I found it difficult to buy them without purchasing plastic! Even the glass
bottles of the essential oils and cider vinegar we use have plastic lids.
Another bottle
issue was milk… I know in some countries and places you can still purchase milk,
well even have it delivered from your local dairy in reused glass bottles. Here
this was not an option. I did investigate UHT milk in tetra pack cartons, but
most of these still had plastic caps. And those that didn’t I felt compromised about
our preference to buy local and support regional farmers. So milk bottles are
still an occurrence in our house hold, though we have always bought bigger (so
less waste) and reuse the bottles for other purposes, such as chicken waterers
or watering cans for the garden. So over
the course of July we accumulated and repurposed 4 x 3l bottles. 
We also reused
a few plastic pop (fizzy drink/ soda) bottles that we had in storage (for
homemade ginger beer) to feed our calves. So 2 of these made it to the
recycling throughout July, as the calves
absolutely destroyed them! Which os funny as we generally don't buy drinks in plastic containers, as most of our squash/cordial can be bought in glass bottles and pop/fizzy/soda in cans... though this in itself could be considered over packaging. But the use of the bottles for the calves was better than buying an entire plastic
product for the job.
Our main ‘failure’
was plastic bags. Now when we were shopping we used reusable bags or elected
not to take a plastic bag for smaller quantities. With the one exception of an impromptu
grocery shop. So the lesson was learned, carry a small number of foldable bags
in my hand bag at all times! Another grocery shopping dilemma was meat. Now we
rear a lot of our own meat, but as we are still expanding our operations we
still purchase some items such as bacon. So we have a choice purchase form the
deli or butcher from unknown sources (or with limited information) that refuse
to wrap the items in only paper due to “health & safety” requirements. Or
purchase pre-packaged meat identified as “free ranged”… Though even when we produce
our own meat, we generally use plastic bags to wrap up the individual cuts for
storage, so in this instance our own produce and practices are no better.
Our main bag failure
however was animal feed. Though all the products we buy are recyclable or made
from recycled materials it is still a consumption we are yet to eliminate. We
have approached the suppliers about being able to purchase larger quantities,
therefore drastically reducing the packaging. But this is one product we are
struggling to eradicate.
So we ‘failed’.
We I would tend to agree however I’m not sure that was the purpose of this
challenge. It was always going to be a ‘challenge’, so what were the successes?
Well we
successfully reduced the quantity of plastic in our general rubbish, as well as
that in our recycling. This challenge
forced us to consider our options, and whether this was the only option,
generally there are alternatives, or at least one that isn’t as bad. I now
regularly carry reusable shopping bags… yes I am turning into my grandparents;
I remember they always brought their own ‘strong’ shopping bags in their trolley,
when they went to town to do their shopping. But I guess that’s the lesson with
this and pretty much our smallholding too. We are trying to do what my grandparent’s
generation did as a matter of course.
So what next? Well
Plastic free Jul (now a worldwide challenge) will run again next year, But I
won’t be waiting til then. And whilst there are those who have successfully
made their lives plastic free. I admit we probably won’t be ‘plastic free’ but we
can do better. And we will, the success of this campaign has been raising our
awareness of those choices we make because it’s easy…
So what about you? What throw-away
items in your life could you live without?
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